A BURY family returned from holiday to find their home vandalised.

Philip and Audrey Chawner, of Foxglove Drive, arrived home with their children from their holiday in Yarmouth, to find pink paint splashed across their living room window.

The front door had also been covered in the paint, the locks sealed up with expanding foam and the external telephone and satellite television wires cut.

Mr Chawner said: "We have an idea who has done this, but because we cannot prove it, the police cannot do anything. It is not the first time that something like this has happened."

When the family arrived home from their holiday at 1am on Tuesday (Sept 2), they contacted the council, who soon arrived to repair the locks. But Mr Chawner says that the council will charge him for the lock change, even though it was not his fault.

He said: "We extended our holiday because of the problems we have had to put up with. We just wanted a break. A neighbour told us they had checked up on our house a few days before we arrived back and everything was fine. But we have come home to be faced by this.

"We have in the past had paint thrown on our disability car, taxis arriving at the house that have been ordered by someone else, and even death threats. We shouldn't have to put up with this."

A spokesman for Bury Council said: "We have spent a great deal of officer time and effort in trying to help this particular family so it's a bit unfair of them to criticise us now. In fact, far from doing nothing to help them, we have investigated their complaints and advised them as to how they could help us to find a solution.

"Where we can, we have taken firm and appropriate action. Furthermore, we have also tried to help them find alternative accommodation and have previously offered them two properties which they refused. They remain a high priority but have particular needs which cannot be met by every available property. Our efforts to resolve this issue are ongoing and the family is aware of that."

Bury Police said they were actively investigating the vandalism attack and confirmed that they were working with Bury Council to help resolve the Chawner family's problems.